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<h1 id="page-title"><a href="#"> Automated Local News for Bristol</a></h1>
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<h2><a href="http://www.thisisbristol.co.uk/educationplus/home/Church-bells-celebrate-Bristol-University-anniversary/article-1017472-detail/article.html">Church bells to celebrate Bristol University anniversary - Bristol Evening Post</a></h2>
<p class="posted"><span class="posttime">Sat, 23 May 2009 08:32:34 GMT/ <b>Bristol Evening Post,  UK</b></span><span class="comments"><a href="http://www.thisisbristol.co.uk/educationplus/home/Church-bells-celebrate-Bristol-University-anniversary/article-1017472-detail/article.html">Go to article</a></span></p>
<div class="entry">
<p> Church bells will ring out across the Bristol on Sunday to celebrate the centenary anniversary of Bristol University. Bells will be rung from noon at Bristol Cathedral; St Mary Magdalene, Stoke Bishop; St Mary Redcliffe, Redcliffe Way; St Matthew's, </p>
<blockquote><p> Church bells will ring out across the Bristol on Sunday to celebrate the centenary anniversary of Bristol University. Bells will be rung from noon at Bristol Cathedral; St Mary Magdalene, Stoke Bishop; St Mary Redcliffe, Redcliffe Way; St Matthew's, Kingsdown; St Michael on the Mount, St Michael's Hill; and St Stephen The Martyr in the city centre.</blockquote></p></div>
<p class="tags"><b>Location: </b>3.0<b> Local Rank: </b>0.26<b> Topic: </b>3 <a href="#">test</a>, <a href="#">lorem</a>, <a href="#">ipsum</a></p>
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<h2><a href="http://www.thisisbristol.co.uk/educationplus/home/Pupils-enjoy-African-drum-workshop/article-1017047-detail/article.html">Pupils enjoy African drum workshop - Bristol Evening Post</a></h2>
<p class="posted"><span class="posttime">Sat, 23 May 2009 06:06:17 GMT/ <b>Bristol Evening Post,  UK</b></span><span class="comments"><a href="http://www.thisisbristol.co.uk/educationplus/home/Pupils-enjoy-African-drum-workshop/article-1017047-detail/article.html">Go to article</a></span></p>
<div class="entry">
<p> AFRICAN rhythms have been resounding around Blaise Primary School in north Bristol as part of an arts week. Musician Alphonse Touna visited the school in Clavell Road, Henbury, to work with the pupils. The children then enjoyed visits from an African </p>
<blockquote><p> AFRICAN rhythms have been resounding around Blaise Primary School in north Bristol as part of an arts week. Musician Alphonse Touna visited the school in Clavell Road, Henbury, to work with the pupils. The children then enjoyed visits from an African story teller and an artist. Pupils have also worked with a mosaic artist to create a school mural which is due to go up soon.</blockquote></p></div>
<p class="tags"><b>Location: </b>3.0<b> Local Rank: </b>0.18<b> Topic: </b>3 <a href="#">test</a>, <a href="#">lorem</a>, <a href="#">ipsum</a></p>
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<h2><a href="http://www.thisisbristol.co.uk/educationplus/home/New-bursaries-Colston-s-School/article-1017310-detail/article.html">New bursaries at Colston's School - Bristol Evening Post</a></h2>
<p class="posted"><span class="posttime">Sat, 23 May 2009 06:06:17 GMT/ <b>Bristol Evening Post,  UK</b></span><span class="comments"><a href="http://www.thisisbristol.co.uk/educationplus/home/New-bursaries-Colston-s-School/article-1017310-detail/article.html">Go to article</a></span></p>
<div class="entry">
<p> Colston's School in Bristol is planning to mark its 300th anniversary next year with the launch of a foundation aimed at funding more bursaries and widening pupil access. The project was announced by headmaster Peter Fraser at the school's annual Prize </p>
<blockquote><p> Colston's School in Bristol is planning to mark its 300th anniversary next year with the launch of a foundation aimed at funding more bursaries and widening pupil access. The project was announced by headmaster Peter Fraser at the school's annual Prize Day yesterday, where he reported strong pupil recruitment and a   1.5 million refurbishment programme. He said additional bursaries would be the greatest legacy of the anniversary. He said: "Such a vision reflects our desire to ensure that Colston's remains a broad based and inclusive school. "In addition to the bursaries that are presently funded by the Hilborne and Newport Foundations, I am delighted to announce that the Old Colstonians have committed significant funding in support of bursaries from 2010. This generosity will I hope be mirrored by the extended school community."</blockquote></p></div>
<p class="tags"><b>Location: </b>3.0<b> Local Rank: </b>0.16<b> Topic: </b>3 <a href="#">test</a>, <a href="#">lorem</a>, <a href="#">ipsum</a></p>
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<div class="post">
<h2><a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/606/A51895641">England - West Indies - BBC Sport</a></h2>
<p class="posted"><span class="posttime">Sun, 24 May 2009 09:37:15 GMT/ <b>BBC Sport,  UK</b></span><span class="comments"><a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/606/A51895641">Go to article</a></span></p>
<div class="entry">
<p>by Mark Mitchener - BBC  Sport  (U1647645) 24 May 2009 I'll shortly be bringing you the live text commentary of today's second ODI between England and West Indies at Bristol. The word is that Eoin Morgan will make his England debut - but how will they </p>
<blockquote><p> Morning everyone, I'll shortly be bringing you the live text commentary of today's second ODI between England and West Indies at Bristol. The word is that Eoin Morgan will make his England debut - but how will they fare? After the first ODI was washed out, this represents the chance for the winning side today to guarantee they can't lose the series. Do get involved and join the debate.</blockquote></p></div>
<p class="tags"><b>Location: </b>3.0<b> Local Rank: </b>0.12000000000000001<b> Topic: </b>3 <a href="#">test</a>, <a href="#">lorem</a>, <a href="#">ipsum</a></p>
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<div class="post">
<h2><a href="http://www.burnhamandhighbridgeweeklynews.co.uk/news/4382035.Students__card_making_project_success/">Students' card making project success - Burnham & Highbridge Weekly News</a></h2>
<p class="posted"><span class="posttime">Sat, 23 May 2009 09:40:58 GMT/ <b>Burnham   Highbridge Weekly News,  UK</b></span><span class="comments"><a href="http://www.burnhamandhighbridgeweeklynews.co.uk/news/4382035.Students__card_making_project_success/">Go to article</a></span></p>
<div class="entry">
<p>The teenagers from King Alfred Sixth Form put on the display without any help for a  business  project they are involved in. The project sees students make and sell their own greetings cards which are sold at several local shops in Burnham and Highbridge </p>
<blockquote><p> 10:30am Saturday 23rd May 2009     THESE sixth formers from Highbridge proudly show off their greeting cards as part of an arts and crafts exhibition. The teenagers from King Alfred Sixth Form put on the display without any help for a business project they are involved in. The project sees students make and sell their own greetings cards which are sold at several local shops in Burnham and Highbridge and the event proved very popular among visitors. Pictured here, front row from left, are Hannah Caulton and Charlotte Lockyer. Back row from left are Lewis Tuck and Lewis Hassall.</blockquote></p></div>
<p class="tags"><b>Location: </b>3.0<b> Local Rank: </b>0.1<b> Topic: </b>3 <a href="#">test</a>, <a href="#">lorem</a>, <a href="#">ipsum</a></p>
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<div class="post">
<h2><a href="http://www.thisisthewestcountry.co.uk/news/4382054.Historical_spectacle_at_Ilminster_Experience/">Historical spectacle at Ilminster Experience - This Is The Westcountry</a></h2>
<p class="posted"><span class="posttime">Sun, 24 May 2009 12:33:35 GMT/ <b>This Is The Westcountry,  UK</b></span><span class="comments"><a href="http://www.thisisthewestcountry.co.uk/news/4382054.Historical_spectacle_at_Ilminster_Experience/">Go to article</a></span></p>
<div class="entry">
<p>Live  entertainment  and children's activities will run throughout the event between 6.30pm and 10.30pm. Visitors will be able to enjoy a selection of local, national and international food and drink at a food court. The Rotary Club of Ilminster is </p>
<blockquote><p> 1:30pm Sunday 24th May 2009     THE big event during the upcoming Ilminster Midsummer Experience is a parade based on the Monmouth Rebellion in the centre of the town. The procession, on Friday, June 12, will involve drums and pipes, colourful costumes and recruiting for the Duke of Monmouth   s Army. Live entertainment and children   s activities will run throughout the event between 6.30pm and 10.30pm. Visitors will be able to enjoy a selection of local, national and international food and drink at a food court. The Rotary Club of Ilminster is sponsoring a party in the Market Square on Saturday, June 13, from 6.30pm to 10.30pm. The Tone Valley Jazz Band and the Blue Bullet Band will provide the music. A pig roast will be available from Bonners the Butchers and a bar will be open until 11pm.</blockquote></p></div>
<p class="tags"><b>Location: </b>3.0<b> Local Rank: </b>0.1<b> Topic: </b>3 <a href="#">test</a>, <a href="#">lorem</a>, <a href="#">ipsum</a></p>
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<div class="post">
<h2><a href="http://www.gazetteandherald.co.uk/news/4386715.Rich_mix_of_talent_lined_up_for_Devizes_Festival/">Rich mix of talent lined up for Devizes Festival - North Wiltshire and Kennet Gazette & Herald</a></h2>
<p class="posted"><span class="posttime">Sun, 24 May 2009 10:50:32 GMT/ <b>North Wiltshire and Kennet Gazette   Herald,  UK</b></span><span class="comments"><a href="http://www.gazetteandherald.co.uk/news/4386715.Rich_mix_of_talent_lined_up_for_Devizes_Festival/">Go to article</a></span></p>
<div class="entry">
<p>It is time once again for Devizes to put out the bunting to welcome international and national artists and celebrities to two weeks of fun and  entertainment . The Devizes Festival committee has again pulled out all the stops to bring some of the most </p>
<blockquote><p> 11:50am Sunday 24th May 2009     It is time once again for Devizes to put out the bunting to welcome international and national artists and celebrities to two weeks of fun and entertainment. The Devizes Festival committee has again pulled out all the stops to bring some of the most talented artists and entertainers in the country to the town. As well as celebrities like Rick Wakeman, Chris Farlowe, Simon Hoggart and Major General Patrick Cordingley, there are up-and-coming musicians like Lola Toursonova, Guo Yue and Alexandra Dariescu. There are welcome returns to local girls made good like Nicola Farnon and Gabby Young (inset) and delightful children   s theatre from the Lyngo Theatre Company. In this period of cutbacks and austerity the role of sponsors is more important than ever and the festival committee is hugely grateful for the support of such firms as Wadworth   Co, Awdry Bailey and Douglas, David Owen   Co and Devizes Books. Devizes Town Council is giving help in kind by way of free use of its venues and the Gazette and Herald is glad to help with publicity. Some 35 other local businesses are also supporting the festival. Devizes has some excellent arts venues but it is only in fairly recent years that it has been able to make full use of the Wharf Theatre. The canalside venue is host to several Devizes Festival events this year, building on the co-operation that now continues to grow between the festival and theatre committees. Among the free fringe events happening this year is a new short play by Lily Sykes, Hanna Pyliotis and Michiko Gaulier entitled Night Bench, the musings of two elderly ladies on the world around them. That takes place on Friday June 5 at 8pm. The following day at noon local boy rockers The Will Blake Band, featuring Will Blake (vocals and piano), Alex McNair (guitar), James Brook (bass) and Aaron Matthews (drums) play their mixture of boogie woogie and driving blues. Box office opening hours Devizes Festival   s box office opened at Devizes Books in Sidmouth Street Wednesday and will run through to Friday June 19. The festival runs from June 3 to 21. Until Saturday June 13 the box office will be open from 9.30am to 4.30pm Monday to Saturday and from 9.30am to 2pm from then on. The number to ring is (01380) 738686 during box office hours.</blockquote></p></div>
<p class="tags"><b>Location: </b>3.0<b> Local Rank: </b>0.1<b> Topic: </b>3 <a href="#">test</a>, <a href="#">lorem</a>, <a href="#">ipsum</a></p>
</div>
<div class="post">
<h2><a href="http://www.thisisbristol.co.uk/homepage/Adrenaline-fan-aged-78-deserves-Gold-Star/article-1016630-detail/article.html">Adrenaline fan aged 78 deserves Gold Star - Bristol Evening Post</a></h2>
<p class="posted"><span class="posttime">Sat, 23 May 2009 12:11:26 GMT/ <b>Bristol Evening Post,  UK</b></span><span class="comments"><a href="http://www.thisisbristol.co.uk/homepage/Adrenaline-fan-aged-78-deserves-Gold-Star/article-1016630-detail/article.html">Go to article</a></span></p>
<div class="entry">
<p> A veteran skydiver, who has raised more than     120000 for charity, is the latest Post Gold Star winner. John Wilkins, 78, has organised and taken part in 25 jumps over the last 11 years to raise money for sick children. In that time he has persuaded </p>
<blockquote><p> A veteran skydiver, who has raised more than   120,000 for charity, is the latest Post Gold Star winner. John Wilkins, 78, has organised and taken part in 25 jumps over the last 11 years to raise money for sick children. In that time he has persuaded hundreds of others to get involved in his sponsored parachute jumps, raising money that has helped save dozens of young lives. The former paratrooper runs two team jumps every year for Bristol Children's Hospital, and most mornings he's at the hospital recruiting skydivers and raising money for its Wallace and Gromit's Grand Appeal by selling raffle tickets and merchandise. Mr Wilkins' fundraising feats also include bungee jumping, abseiling and white-water rafting. But the daredevil pensioner has no plans to quit has charity work any time soon. Mr Wilkins, of Butterfield Park, Clevedon, said: "I am going to go on until I am at least 80. I will see how I feel then, but every year is a bonus." He joined the Army in 1949 and was posted to Sri Lanka   then Ceylon   as a signalman in 1952. He discovered his love of skydiving when he qualified as a paratrooper in 1959, when he was with the Royal Signals 2nd Battalion 2 Para. During his army days he completed 100 parachute jumps, but nowadays he says he prefers skydiving for charity. His latest jump, on May 2 and 3, saw 24 people from Bristol, Clevedon and Taunton throw themselves out of a plane to raise   10,000 for the Grand Appeal. The  Post  Gold Star Awards recognise the extraordinary achievements of local people, whether they have saved lives, cared selflessly for others or shown great courage. Mr Wilkins, who will also be honoured with a centenary degree from Bristol University this summer for his fundraising efforts, said he was delighted to win the Gold Star. He said: "I raise the money because it is for children, and they really need all our support. "My son was in hospital in Germany many years ago, and I will never forget the brilliant treatment he got. "I am absolutely delighted to win the award, and it is nice to be recognised for what we have achieved over the last 11 years. "It will hopefully help raise the profile of what the Grand Appeal is doing." Nicola Masters, director of Wallace and Gromit's Grand Appeal, said: "John is such a valued member of the Grand Appeal team and we all feel thrilled on his behalf and very proud that his fantastic fundraising efforts have been rewarded in this way. "The  Post 's Gold Star award is a great accolade as it recognises John's star quality as well as paying tribute to the people of Bristol who support the charity so well." Post assistant editor Richard Coulter said: "We hear of many fantastic people in the Bristol area who raise money for charity, but John's achievements are truly remarkable. "Not only has he raised over   120,000 for the Grand Appeal, he has done it by jumping out of planes, a proposition which would be daunting for someone half his age."</blockquote></p></div>
<p class="tags"><b>Location: </b>3.0<b> Local Rank: </b>0.04102564102564103<b> Topic: </b>3 <a href="#">test</a>, <a href="#">lorem</a>, <a href="#">ipsum</a></p>
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<div class="post">
<h2><a href="http://www.gazetteseries.co.uk/news/4386882.Rugby_stars_to_open_carnival/">Rugby stars to open Easter Compton Carnival - Gloucestershire Gazette</a></h2>
<p class="posted"><span class="posttime">Sun, 24 May 2009 07:57:08 GMT/ <b>Gloucestershire Gazette,  UK</b></span><span class="comments"><a href="http://www.gazetteseries.co.uk/news/4386882.Rugby_stars_to_open_carnival/">Go to article</a></span></p>
<div class="entry">
<p>As well as the procession, carnival queens and the sporting stars, this year's Easter Compton Carnival also promises an array of  entertainment  from bouncy castles and acrobatics to stalls, a barbecue and fully licensed all-day bar. </p>
<blockquote><p> 8:50am Sunday 24th May 2009     PUNTERS are being encouraged to roll up for this year   s Easter Compton Carnival. Organisers say this year   s carnival will bigger and better than ever thanks to rugby giants England star Roy Winters and fellow Bristol team mate Matt Salter. The two players will be opening the carnival, which traditionally starts with a procession through the village. Sally Garbett, vice-chairman of the carnival committee, said: "Every year we try to get someone to open the carnival and we have had plenty of television presenters but this year we definitely have something for the ladies with the appearance of Roy Winters and Matt Salter." The carnival, which has been running for more than 40 years, is an important fundraiser for the village and all money raised goes to support the running of Easter Compton   s village hall. Through the carnival, as well as a number of other annual fundraising events such as a fireworks display and a charity auction, groups such as Brownies and Scouts are able to hire the village hall for free. As well as the procession, carnival queens and the sporting stars, this year   s Easter Compton Carnival also promises an array of entertainment from bouncy castles and acrobatics to stalls, a barbecue and fully licensed all-day bar. There is also the annual tug-of-war competition, performances by the 93rd Squadron City of Bath Air Cadets Marching Band and a children   s funfair. "The carnival has changed a lot over the years but it really offers a great family day out. "The procession gives people the chance to really enter into the spirit of the event. Now we don   t have floats and lorries people have to get creative about how they will move through the village. "The procession is now followed by all the activities and entertainment on the village field," said Ms Garbett. The Easter Compton Carnival is being held on Saturday, June 13. The procession starts at 1.30pm. Motorists are reminded that to allow the procession to happen the main road through Easter Compton will be closed for a time. For more information visit www.eastercompton.org</blockquote></p></div>
<p class="tags"><b>Location: </b>3.0<b> Local Rank: </b>0.013333333333333332<b> Topic: </b>3 <a href="#">test</a>, <a href="#">lorem</a>, <a href="#">ipsum</a></p>
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<div class="post">
<h2><a href="http://www.thisiswiltshire.co.uk/news/4386705.Devizes__Marlborough_and_Corsham_s_triumph_for_Moonwalk/">Devizes, Marlborough and Corsham's triumph for Moonwalk - This is Wiltshire.co.uk</a></h2>
<p class="posted"><span class="posttime">Sat, 23 May 2009 14:45:00 GMT/ <b>This is Wiltshire.co.uk,  UK</b></span><span class="comments"><a href="http://www.thisiswiltshire.co.uk/news/4386705.Devizes__Marlborough_and_Corsham_s_triumph_for_Moonwalk/">Go to article</a></span></p>
<div class="entry">
<p>There was the lack of sleep, of course, and we had been hanging around for three or four hours, though there was some terrific  entertainment  from live bands and comedians, including Paul O'Grady.        I don't think I want to do it again, but you should </p>
<blockquote><p> 3:40pm Saturday 23rd May 2009     Women from Devizes, Marlborough and Corsham have raised thousands of pounds for research into breast cancer by taking part in a moonlit walk around London. Thirteen women from the local area, all wearing gaily decorated bras over their tee-shirts, completed the 26-mile Moonwalk course, setting off from Hyde Park at midnight on Saturday. Clare Smale headed up the seven-strong group from the Devizes area who together have raised   2,000 for Breast Cancer Research. Mrs Smale, from Littleton Panell, said she was feeling less achy than she expected to be after the strenuous exercise. She said:    I   ve never taken part in such a well-organised event. It was like a military operation.    But we were absolutely shattered by the end.    It was like power walking. We managed to keep up but by the end we were all ready to collapse.    We were taken by surprise by how tough it was.    There was the lack of sleep, of course, and we had been hanging around for three or four hours, though there was some terrific entertainment from live bands and comedians, including Paul O   Grady.    I don   t think I want to do it again, but you should never say never.    I have a friend who is undergoing treatment for breast cancer at the moment and she wants to do it next year, so I will probably keep her company.    I would particularly like to thank everyone who supported us.    Six mums from Marlborough, Helen Peel-Cross, Jo Hicks, Julie Jackson, Lotty Mundy, Mary Mundy and Mel Hagerty also managed to complete the course, in around nine hours. They raised   1,778. One of the mums, Julie Jackson, said:    The pavements were crammed with walkers and there was a lot of stopping and starting but there was a really good atmosphere. The weather stayed dry, which was a blessing. Mum-of-one Jane Hardy, 28, used time she had after being made redundant from a job as a legal secretary to train for the MoonWalk in aid of breast cancer charities. Miss Hardy, of Poynder Road, Corsham and her friend Sarah Lovell from Bristol felt the pain after completing the 26.2 mile walk in their sparkly bras in just under seven hours. But having raised more than   600 for charity, she said it was worth every minute. She said:    It was a fantastic experience although I found it quite strange that there were still so many cars about in London when we taking part during the early hours of the morning.    It was quite gruelling because our legs started to get really painful but it was amazing.    I was quite emotional when I reached the end to think I had achieved it after months of training.   </blockquote></p></div>
<p class="tags"><b>Location: </b>3.0<b> Local Rank: </b>0.010857142857142859<b> Topic: </b>3 <a href="#">test</a>, <a href="#">lorem</a>, <a href="#">ipsum</a></p>
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<div class="post">
<h2><a href="http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/property/article6344747.ece">Living in a fairytale - Times Online</a></h2>
<p class="posted"><span class="posttime">Sat, 23 May 2009 23:20:28 GMT/ <b>Times Online,  UK</b></span><span class="comments"><a href="http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/property/article6344747.ece">Go to article</a></span></p>
<div class="entry">
<p>These days, we busy folk find a quick text with the words        luv ya        usually keeps things ticking along okay, thereby freeing up plenty of time to crack on with the serious  business  of earning a living. I suspect that if Elizabeth Barrett Browning were </p>
<blockquote><p> How do I love thee? Let me count the ways... rdquo wrote Elizabeth Barrett Browning back in 1850, in the days when people had time enough to calculate such frivolous things.  ldquoI love thee to the depth and breadth and height my soul can reach rdquo  mdash that was way number one.  ldquoI love thee freely... purely... with... passion... with the breath, smiles, tears, of all my life... rdquo Crikey. Lucky old Mr R Browning. Well, with my deadline approaching and my childcare arrangements about to knock off for the day, I rsquom not going to waste precious minutes counting it out exactly, but I reckon, in that one sonnet alone, she came up with at least 10 ways of saying the same thing. These days, we busy folk find a quick text with the words  ldquoluv ya rdquo usually keeps things ticking along okay, thereby freeing up plenty of time to crack on with the serious business of earning a living. I suspect that if Elizabeth Barrett Browning were alive today, with the mortgage-approval prospects of poets being as they are, she might well have found it preferable to lend her writing skills to other paid work  mdash penning a weekly property column for The Sunday Times, perhaps. In which case, inveterate counter that she was, she would probably have been tempted to count the ways in which vendors, in these economically unforgiving times, manage to explain why they rsquore putting their houses on the market without ever having to say:  ldquoAargh! Because we desperately need some cash. rdquo Myself, I always assume the worst, and I have come to dread the moment when the question has to be asked. It makes me feel like one of those sadistic schoolmasters from the olden days, who used to say to children,  ldquoYou rsquore a snivelling little brat, what are you? rdquo, then force the child to repeat it.  ldquoI rsquom a snivelling little brat, sir. rdquo Week after week, the moment comes round, and the question, unspoken commentary attached, hovers in the air. Why are you selling, Mr and Mrs McFarland? Let me count the ways... Jane McFarland, a property manager, and her husband, Paul, a commercial director for BT, are not selling their stunning, Grade II*-listed, late-18th-century, 6,725 sq ft townhouse in the heart of Clifton Village, Bristol, because they want a change of scene, nor because they want to go travelling, nor to be closer to their children rsquos schools. Nor are they selling for any other of the myriad reasons I rsquom generally given. As it happens, they are very happy living in Clifton with their two young daughters, commuting at weekends to a holiday place in Cornwall. But Jane says that when she and her husband get back from Cornwall each weekend, they rsquore exhausted  ldquoafter doing all the gardening rdquo. Which is why they want to sell up and find  ldquosomewhere exactly the same, in the same area, only smaller rdquo. They will have their work cut out. This place is outstanding. Number 7 Royal York Crescent, on the market for  2.25m, is one of only two houses on the street that has not been divided up. (It does have a separate three-bedroom flat, numbered 7a, on the lower ground floor, accessed via a separate entrance, but the two could easily be combined to make one enormous property with nine bedrooms, six receptions and five bathrooms.) The McFarlands bought the house, located on a grand Georgian terrace, 12 years ago. They have refurbished and modernised the main part  mdash the ground and three upper floors, that is  mdash with impeccable elegance and sensitivity. Walking through the front door via vast expanses of polished oak floor into a hall with a stairway fit for  mdash I dunno  mdash Elizabeth Taylor to descend in a ball gown, I feel as if am walking onto a film set. To the left is a dining room with yellow silk curtains, hand-sewn by Jane from silk she bought in Vietnam, and a long mahogany dining table. All that rsquos missing is Keira Knightley in period costume, looking irritating by candlelight. Beyond the dining room are the 20ft by 18ft kitchen, the pantry, the conservatory  mdash and a surprisingly small garden. (The exhausting one rsquos in Cornwall.) Everything in this house, and everything about this house, is immaculate and beautiful. The pi ce de r sistance, however, is the glass domed ceiling on the top floor, which throws light down that Tayloresque stairway and lends added golden sheen to a hallway that already looks like something from a fairy tale. What a house. I wish I could say I loved it. But I don rsquot. I asked Jane where, amid all this unremitting splendour, she and her husband sat and relaxed in the evening. She looked faintly disconcerted. What with the children and the gardening, she explained, and everyone always being so exhausted... Number 7 Royal York Crescent could be truly magical if someone roughed it up a bit. In the meantime, I can count the ways I admire it, but it rsquos hard to feel much passion about a show home.</blockquote></p></div>
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<h2><a href="http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/2009/05/24/olympic-sailor-s-father-dies-after-dinghy-capsizes-91466-23695500/">Olympic sailor's father dies after dinghy capsizes - WalesOnline</a></h2>
<p class="posted"><span class="posttime">Sun, 24 May 2009 11:41:24 GMT/ <b>WalesOnline,  United Kingdom</b></span><span class="comments"><a href="http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/2009/05/24/olympic-sailor-s-father-dies-after-dinghy-capsizes-91466-23695500/">Go to article</a></span></p>
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<p> THE father of an Olympic sailor has died after his dinghy capsized off the Welsh coast. Roy Barker, 70, plunged into the Bristol Channel off Penarth at 7.30pm last night. The Penarth Yacht Club member was taking part in a race with around 11 other </p>
<blockquote><p>May 24 2009  by Ben Glaze, WalesOnline THE father of an Olympic sailor has died after his dinghy capsized off the Welsh coast. Roy Barker, 70, plunged into the Bristol Channel off Penarth at 7.30pm last night. The Penarth Yacht Club member was taking part in a race with around 11 other boats when his vessel flipped. An RAF Sea King helicopter from Chivenor in Devon, Penarth's RNLI inflatable inshore lifeboat and Coastguard teams were scrambled and Mr Barker was plucked from the sea within minutes. He was brought ashore by friends from the yacht club in its safety boat as spectators watched from the esplanade in the evening sunshine. Penarth RNLI operations manager Philip Lay said: "The rescue boat got to him very quickly. "We had him back on the slipway where our crew administered first aid to try and sort him out. "We gave him oxygen and coordinated the resources to get him to hospital. "The helicopter came across to give us the opportunity for a helicopter evacuation, but it was felt road ambulance was the quickest way of getting him to hospital." Paramedics took Mr Barker, who has been a member of the town's yacht club for decades, to Llandough Hospital's accident and emergency unit where doctors declared him dead. Both the lifeboat station's D Class and Atlantic 75 lifeboats were launched to recover two yachts left drifting when their sailors tried to help Mr Barker. Mr Lay added: "Our thoughts are with his family. It's a very tragic situation." Swansea Coastguard watch assistant Charlie Davies said: "A 78-year-old man was recovered unconscious from the water after his sailing dinghy capsized. "The casualty was brought ashore where CPR was carried out." South Wales Police Inspector Emma Tyler said the force would investigate and prepare a case for Cardiff and the Vale of Glamorgan coroner Mary Hassell. She added: "There is nothing suspicious." Mr Barker's son is Ian Barker, who started sailing when he was a schoolboy and won silver at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. The World Championship winning UWIC graduate said in an interview: "I did an Engineering degree at UWIC, Cardiff and then took a job as a sailmaker which enabled me to continue to sail and be paid. "I then set up my own company selling sails but competing full-time meant I couldn t work and train as well." Flags at Penarth Yacht Club and the resort's lifeboat station were today flying at half mast.</blockquote></p></div>
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<h2><a href="http://www.southwalesargus.co.uk/news/4392965.Festival_fever_hits_Abergavenny/">Festival fever hits Abergavenny - South Wales Argus</a></h2>
<p class="posted"><span class="posttime">Sun, 24 May 2009 13:48:08 GMT/ <b>South Wales Argus,  UK</b></span><span class="comments"><a href="http://www.southwalesargus.co.uk/news/4392965.Festival_fever_hits_Abergavenny/">Go to article</a></span></p>
<div class="entry">
<p> The Bristol-based group Calima Flamenco performed for the first time in Wales at The Priory Centre. Music fans were expected to travel from all over the UK to attend The Celtic Spirit Music Festival, which has been organised by local businessman and </p>
<blockquote><p> 2:46pm Sunday 24th May 2009     A Flamenco troupe opened a three-day music festival in Abergavenny on Friday night. The Bristol-based group Calima Flamenco performed for the first time in Wales at The Priory Centre. Music fans were expected to travel from all over the UK to attend The Celtic Spirit Music Festival, which has been organised by local businessman and owner of the town   s Kings Arms Pub, Ben Jones. Blues duo Roland Chadwick and ex-yardbird member Alan Glen were due to perform in The Priory Centre last night, whilst Chris Jagger   s band Atcha took to the stage at The Kings Arms. The festival, which is taking place in three venues, including The Market Hall, will close on Sunday with its headline acts Diana Jones and Cerys Matthews. Other big names set to perform over the bank holiday weekend include The Salta Vindar Choir from Sweden and the Beaufort Male Voice Choir. See Monday   s Argus for more pictures.</blockquote></p></div>
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<h2><a href="http://www.wiltshiretimes.co.uk/news/4389476.Westbury_swimmers_in_SOS_call/">Westbury swimmers in SOS call - Wiltshire Times</a></h2>
<p class="posted"><span class="posttime">Sat, 23 May 2009 10:13:04 GMT/ <b>Wiltshire Times,  UK</b></span><span class="comments"><a href="http://www.wiltshiretimes.co.uk/news/4389476.Westbury_swimmers_in_SOS_call/">Go to article</a></span></p>
<div class="entry">
<p>My message to all the kids is if you want to keep fit for any  sport  swimming is absolutely fantastic. It's low impact so it doesn't put strain on the joints, it'sa great aerobic exercise and it builds muscle tone.        There's also the added incentive for </p>
<blockquote><p> 11:10am Saturday 23rd May 2009     The longest running swimming club in the country, based at the oldest working swimming pool in the country, has started a campaign to ensure its future. Westbury Amateur Swimming Club still uses the town   s 1887 Victorian pool in Church Street. Founded in 1897, it is officially the oldest club in the country. The club reached a record low in members at the turn of the year with only 73 on the books. Committee member Neil Tribick, 50, from Studland Park, Westbury, is marketing the campaign. His 17-year-old son Jonathan is the club   s boys captain and his other son Matthew, 20, swims for the club when home from studying at Sheffield University. He said:    I went to a presentation evening in January and chairman Mark Hanney explained that the club was teetering on the brink because of the lack of members. This is probably because of other pressures and activities available to children today.    My message to all the kids is if you want to keep fit for any sport swimming is absolutely fantastic. It   s low impact so it doesn   t put strain on the joints, it   s a great aerobic exercise and it builds muscle tone.    There   s also the added incentive for children of the 2012 Olympics.    The club has already booster its numbers by visiting local schools. Boys captain Jonathan Tribick and girls captain Kate Gould are due to talk to pupils at Bitham Brook Primary School on June 15. It plans to deliver leaflets through the town on June 7, and is also bidding for an Awards for All Lottery grant for about   10,000. Mr Tribick added:    We need new equipment such as starting blocks, training boards, lane ropes, kick fins and hand paddles. A set of starting blocks, training boards and lane ropes costs approximately   6,500, and that   s the basement end.    We also want to get T-shirts and training tracksuits so when we turn up to galas we look like a proper team.    A sponsored swim has been arranged in memory of former member Jonathan Sims, who died of a brain tumour in March, aged 25. The former Clarendon College pupil, who had worked at Trowbridge Sports Centre, had been a member of Westbury Swimming Club since childhood and was a great inspiration to others. The event on July 14-15, will see members swimming 21 miles, the distance between Dover and Calais, and 35 per cent of the money raised will go to charity. To sponsor the club visit their new website at www.westburyasc.co.uk or call club chairman Mark Hanney on 01373 865138.</blockquote></p></div>
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<h2><a href="http://www.gazetteandherald.co.uk/news/4386768.Legends_on_stage_for_Devizes_Festival/">Legends on stage for Devizes Festival - North Wiltshire and Kennet Gazette & Herald</a></h2>
<p class="posted"><span class="posttime">Sun, 24 May 2009 10:50:26 GMT/ <b>North Wiltshire and Kennet Gazette   Herald,  UK</b></span><span class="comments"><a href="http://www.gazetteandherald.co.uk/news/4386768.Legends_on_stage_for_Devizes_Festival/">Go to article</a></span></p>
<div class="entry">
<p>After 50 years in the  business , Mr Farlowe is still rocking and he appears at the Blues Night at the Corn Exchange on Friday June 5 backed by the Norman Beaker Band. Devizes hosts another legend of the 1960s and 1970s the following night when Rick </p>
<blockquote><p> 11:50am Sunday 24th May 2009     This year   s Devizes Festival welcomes not one but two legends of British rock   n   roll. Chris Farlowe is still warmly remembered for his hit single Out of Time, written for him by Rolling Stones Mick Jagger and Keith Richards. After 50 years in the business, Mr Farlowe is still rocking and he appears at the Blues Night at the Corn Exchange on Friday June 5 backed by the Norman Beaker Band. Devizes hosts another legend of the 1960s and 1970s the following night when Rick Wakeman, formerly of Yes and The Strawbs, is on stage at the Corn Exchange. Mr Wakeman is almost as well known these days for his appearances on BBC   s Grumpy Old Men, but his keyboard skills are still as sharp as ever, as those who saw him perform at Marlborough College recently can testify. Those lucky enough to get tickets to the Corn Exchange gig will be entertained as much by his skill as a raconteur as by his brilliance at the piano. Fans of modern jazz will be in their element at the town hall on Thursday June 11 when the Tony Kofi Quartet plays the music of Thelonious Monk. Then, on Friday June 12 it is the turn of folk fans to rejoice when Maire Ni Chathasaigh and Chris Newman perform an evening of Irish folk music. The same evening sees the final of the Battle of the Bands, which has now become a tradition at the festival, welcoming the cream of local talent to the musical Armageddon at the Corn Exchange. The Birmingham band Calories not only headline the show but have been recruited as judges as well. Rising classical talent Devizes Festival has a long and illustrious history of presenting the best of classical music, introducing young artists before they rise to prominence. This year is no exception and several eminent younger players will be making their debut. The Heath Quartet     Oliver Heath (violin), Rebecca Eves (violin), Gary Pomeroy (viola) and Christopher Murray (cello)     formed at the Royal Northern College of Music in 2002 and have since won three major international music competitions. At the town hall on Thursday June 4 they will be playing pieces by Haydn, Janacek and Mendelssohn. Benjamin Frost, the assistant director of music at St Luke   s Church, Chelsea, will perform an organ recital at St John   s Church at noon on Saturday June 6.</blockquote></p></div>
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<h2><a href="http://www.thisiswiltshire.co.uk/news/4389419.Florist_insists_Corsham_economy_is_blooming/">Florist insists Corsham economy is blooming - This is Wiltshire.co.uk</a></h2>
<p class="posted"><span class="posttime">Sun, 24 May 2009 08:39:39 GMT/ <b>This is Wiltshire.co.uk,  UK</b></span><span class="comments"><a href="http://www.thisiswiltshire.co.uk/news/4389419.Florist_insists_Corsham_economy_is_blooming/">Go to article</a></span></p>
<div class="entry">
<p>was a gap in the market for a florists and despite the recession, people still love buying flowers.        It is going quite well at the moment and I have several weddings coming up.        I think Corsham is the perfect place to open a  business  at the moment. </p>
<blockquote><p> 9:30am Sunday 24th May 2009     A new florists has opened in the Martingate Centre in Corsham despite the wilting economy. Daisy Chain, run by Amanda Child, from Bradford on Avon, is thriving in the shopping precinct as the only shop that specialises solely in flowers. Miss Child, 23, said:    I decided to open my store in Corsham, because there was a gap in the market for a florists and despite the recession, people still love buying flowers.    It is going quite well at the moment and I have several weddings coming up.    I think Corsham is the perfect place to open a business at the moment.    The store opened on April 6.</blockquote></p></div>
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<h2><a href="http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/103032/Anger-as-reality-TV-films-NHS-operation-">ANGER AS REALITY TV FILMS NHS OPERATION - UK Express</a></h2>
<p class="posted"><span class="posttime">Sat, 23 May 2009 23:10:52 GMT/ <b>UK Express,  UK</b></span><span class="comments"><a href="http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/103032/Anger-as-reality-TV-films-NHS-operation-">Go to article</a></span></p>
<div class="entry">
<p>There is a role for getting the public better informed about what goes on in busy hospitals and the work of surgeons but the danger is that the operations just become  entertainment ,        he said.        A very careful judgment has to be made about when you step </p>
<blockquote><p> The four-part show will feature open-heart surgery and the removal of a brain tumour while the patient is still conscious. Viewers will be able to send in questions using a special website which the surgeon will answer on the show but the stunt was condemned last night by Michael Summers, vice chairman of the Patients  Association.  A number of people will be very disturbed by this,  he said.  It could also be psychologically harmful, especially to those who have had operations like this. There are some things certain patients prefer not to know.  It may be that some will find it enlightening but many others will feel it is sickening and distasteful.  Norman Lamb, Liberal Democrat health spokesman, also expressed concern.  There is a role for getting the public better informed about what goes on in busy hospitals and the work of surgeons but the danger is that the operations just become entertainment,  he said.  A very careful judgment has to be made about when you step over the line and compromise patients  safety.  Paul Grundy, a neurosurgeon at Southampton General Hospital, will be filmed removing the brain tumour.  I wouldn t have done this unless I thought it was important and of benefit to patients,  he said.  They are nervous and terrified about the prospect of surgery. Patients who see and understand more about what will happen are comforted and it is easier to counsel them through it. We hope to show people it isn t awful. The more informed people are the better they are at coping with stress. If it goes wrong we stop filming. </blockquote></p></div>
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<h2><a href="http://www.thisisbath.co.uk/news/Opening-night-attracts-record-crowd/article-1017887-detail/article.html">Opening night attracts record crowd - Bath Chronicle</a></h2>
<p class="posted"><span class="posttime">Sat, 23 May 2009 14:40:12 GMT/ <b>Bath Chronicle,  UK</b></span><span class="comments"><a href="http://www.thisisbath.co.uk/news/Opening-night-attracts-record-crowd/article-1017887-detail/article.html">Go to article</a></span></p>
<div class="entry">
<p>Last night the event began in style with free  entertainment  for all. The festival opneing night even managed to pull in its biggest ever crowd, with more than 15000 music, art and drama lovers descending on the city. Party in the City was a showcase of </p>
<blockquote><p> Over the years some of the biggest names in music have come to sing, to play and to conduct at the Bath International Music Festival and this year is certainly no exception. Last night the event began in style with free entertainment for all. The festival opneing night even managed to pull in its biggest ever crowd, with more than 15,000 music, art and drama lovers descending on the city. Party in the City was a showcase of the vast selection of entertainment on offer from young punk bands to classical quartets. The opening event saw 100 performances from 80 different groups at 30 different venues across the city including Bath's historic Abbey and the Georgian Pump Room, Guildhall, Assembly Rooms and Pavilion, as well as the traditional children's procession. The well-established Bath International Music Festival is now in its 61st year and organisers have promised that it will be the biggest and best festival the city has seen to date. Nod Knowles, chief executive of the Bath Festivals Trust, said:   Last night was fabulous. Although we are not quite sure just how many people came out to enjoy themselves last night we are sure it was significantly more than last year s 10,000 - probabiy about 15,000, which is just amazing. The whole night was a roaring success. There is more than just something for everyone. The festival is a photograph of the very best entertainment on offer today.  The evening s entertainment began with the sound of bells resonating across the city, as scores of bell ringers announced the opening of the festival from their bell towers and was brought to a close with a spectacular firework display. Following on from the success of the opening night, there will be plenty of opportunity to continue to enjoy live performances across the city with the event running until the June 6. The festival will feature the very same diversity that made the Party in the City such a success with a range of music genres to suit all kinds of tastes. Mainstream classical will be featuring on the programme with the BBC Concert Orchestra performing Gershwin, and the London Symphony Orchestra and the Jerusalem Quartet playing across the venues of Bath. Jazz has always played a key role in this festival and this year will welcome three jazz legends over the opening weekend: funk superstar Maceo Parker, famed for his work with Funk-Soul legend James Brown; British bass virtuoso Dave Holland; and American stars Branford Marsalis Quartet. One of the boldest new projects to feature in this year's programme is the Battle of Quiberon Bay: an operatic extravaganza set in and around the Roman Baths, celebrating Handel's 250th anniversary. For further details of the full programme and ticket information please see the Bath Festivals website www.bathmusicfest.org.uk . Last night also saw the opening of the Bath Fringe Festival which featured a free party with DJ Ruben Cordero and AfroCuban demonstration dancers, followed by Latin group Almasala who flew in from Barcelona. The event boasts more than 200 events and workshops covering music, dance, theatre, comedy and art running alongside the Bath International Arts Festival till June 7. Full details of the programme for the Fringe Festival can be found on the official website www.bathfringe.co.uk . One organisations involved in the Fringe Arts Bath s (FAB) opening night was nesa (North East Somerset Arts) who work with individuals or communities to create works of art. Their latest exhibition held its preview last night at Milsom Place. The exhibition is made up of eight individual installations, each created by people with experiences of overcoming a range of diverse and challenging issues in their lives including post natal depression.  </blockquote></p></div>
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<h2><a href="http://www.independent.ie/lifestyle/independent-woman/fashion-beauty/singing-out-praises-of-carole-1749290.html">GETTING LIFESMART: Carole Caplin in her gym headquarters in ... - Irish Independent</a></h2>
<p class="posted"><span class="posttime">Sun, 24 May 2009 09:43:38 GMT/ <b>Irish Independent,  Ireland</b></span><span class="comments"><a href="http://www.independent.ie/lifestyle/independent-woman/fashion-beauty/singing-out-praises-of-carole-1749290.html">Go to article</a></span></p>
<div class="entry">
<p>They took their eye off the  business  and put it in someone else's hands. "I went bust. I had nothing. I ended up sleeping on my mother's floor. It was the nearest I got to being in a depressive state. I couldn't understand how it had gone so wrong. </p>
<blockquote><p> At the height of Cheriegate, Carole Caplin was portrayed as a Svengali, ready to publish scandal about the Blairs. But Lucy Cavendish finds her more of a flatterer than a wacko, a woman who paid the price for refusing to take the celebrity route Half an hour after I leave Carole Caplin, I begin to feel really ill. My head starts throbbing. I am trying to drive across London and my vision starts to blur. I stop the car in a panic. My God, what is happening? Am I having an aneurysm? Maybe the seven hours I've spent with Caplin at her spanking new, quiet but impressive gym-cum-therapy centre, LifeSmart, being stretched, scrubbed, physically manipulated and then massaged, has dislodged something in my brain. After an hour, my headache is so bad that I stop at a shop and buy some painkillers. Earlier in the day, Caplin had told me she didn't really like using painkillers because they were "not great", as she put it, for your stomach, but I feel I have no choice. I send her a text message. And what do I say? "Thanks so much for today. I feel so much better." As I drive home -- my headache now cleared up by medication -- I wonder why I did that. Caplin herself had told me I might feel a bit shaky. Why didn't I just say, "Help! I feel rubbish!" But for some reason I pretend I'm fine. It's because I don't want to disappoint her. For this is how she makes you feel -- special, chosen, looked after. This is possibly why Cherie Blair seemed to fall so heavily under Caplin's spell. From the early Nineties, Caplin was Mrs Blair's health and style adviser -- apparently helping her relax by giving her lengthy massages followed by strictly adhered-to advice about what to eat, what to wear and when to wear it. But then, in 2002, Caplin's personal life became the subject of intense scrutiny. The man she was seeing, Peter Foster, turned out to be a fraudster, convicted for selling bogus slimming products. This in itself wouldn't have meant anything to anyone bar Caplin and those whose lives he affected, but he apparently helped the former PM's wife secure a discount on two flats in Bristol for her son Euan, who was at university there. Caplin took the blame for the PR disaster, but Blair refused to distance herself from Caplin, saying she was "indispensable". This set off an endless round of newspaper think-pieces about why Blair was so attached to her friend and helper. The words "Rasputin" and "Svengali" were often used in reference to Caplin. She laughs this off now. "It was ridiculous," she says. "Do you think it's to do with the fact that I have long black hair? I mean, come on." LifeSmart HQ is a converted church in Regent's Park. We are in the basement changing-room, a peaceful place decorated in homage to Caplin's own home, with floral wallpaper, ergonomically designed chairs, walls painted with organic paint, no locks on the lockers, distilled water in the taps and mock-crystal door handles -- and she seems quite happy to chat about what has happened to her in the past. "The reason Cherie got so lambasted was because there were people who were out to get New Labour by whatever means. The Labour Party hadn't been in power for some time and, after they got in, people wanted to destroy them, and I got caught up in that. I was a candidate with which to bring ridicule." Caplin herself was portrayed as a manipulative gold-digger, always on the verge of revealing all about the Blairs in a variety of books she was supposed to be writing. "I was never going to do a book," she says. "There are so many reports that I was going to make a fortune by publishing my memoirs. And I could've done! When the story broke I had two choices: I could either have gone down the reality/celebrity route and done a book, appeared on I'm A Celebrity ... and chat programmes and the like, or I could keep my head down and carry on with my job. I chose to do the latter." Caplin tells me it is hard to sum up what she does. "A lot of what I do is remedial work," she says. "I get a lot of people referred to me who have injuries and are a millimetre away from having a serious operation. My job is to try and help them to get better, to get more mobile and to understand their bodies so that maybe they don't need an operation after all." She works alongside various lifestyle experts, including a homoeopath, a nutritionist and Dirk, a correctional exercise specialist. Dirk wears rubber shoes with individual pouches for each toe. He spends a long time telling me how this helps your balance, but they still look most odd. But while Dirk takes my measurements, with Carole sitting in and staring intently at my posture, I have time to study her. She is tall and slim with great skin, and she does indeed have huge amounts of thick, snaky hair. Her pushed-up breasts are almost unavoidable, a bit like those of a Barbie doll. She is 47 years old and looks really good "for her age", as a client of hers puts it (a male one). Although she has been made out to be officially wacky, I find nothing wacky about Carole Caplin. She's more of a reflector -- a very flattering and rather fancy mirror that takes what you say then repeats it back to you as if you are the most interesting person alive. For example, you ask her a question, and, fixing you with her bright blue eyes, accentuated by lots of mascara, she says, "Now that's an interesting question," and it makes you feel you are just fascinating. This in turn makes you feel warm and toasty towards her, until you find out this is her modus operandi. I recently had dinner with a friend who had also met her -- with an on-off boyfriend whom Caplin did not mention to me -- and she said exactly the same thing about Caplin, which made us both feel a bit deflated. "She's charming and beautiful company," my friend summed up. "And yet it is hard to find the substance beneath it all." She's also obviously good at what she does -- a facilitator, in the way all good personal trainers are. She takes tired, stressed-out company executives who work too hard and eat badly, and turns their lives around with a few nudges and pushes and replacing of wheat with quinoa. "I can be bossy," says Caplin. She then tells me to stop drinking coffee in the morning. "I think it's what's hurting your colon," she says. "I am worried about your colon." This, in turn, makes me worried about my colon. Then, after a long, hard look at me, she tells me that, in terms of my posture, I push my head forwards slightly and lean to the left. She shows me exercises in one of her three airy rooms full of specially-designed gym equipment. My body feels better immediately. "I've been wanting to do this all my life," she says. "I've spent so much time looking for the right place and this is it." Caplin was born in Fulham, west London, the youngest of two daughters. Her mother, Sylvia, set up her own dance studio, then jumped ship and went to teach at Pineapple. Her father Michael was a furrier who left Sylvia when Caplin was two and a half and moved to South Africa. He died aged 61. "He had a very unhealthy lifestyle," says Caplin. "He was a charismatic man but he drank a lot." She is obviously close to her mother, who was also ridiculed in the press as something of a new-age guru. "She is an amazing woman," says Caplin. "I learnt a lot from her. She taught loads of people. Felicity Kendal came to her for years." Caplin herself started off as a dancer, once auditioning for the troupe Hot Gossip, which she says she found very nerve-racking. "Couldn't deal with it," she says. "But then I used to be cripplingly shy. I actually decided to be a dancer to get over my nerves." She danced in groups until her late teens, until one day she decided she couldn't do it any more. "By this time I had curvature of the spine," she says. "And I was leading a very unhealthy lifestyle." She was eating a mind-boggling amount of chocolate digestives every day (she says between 50 and 70) and mainlining Crunchies and Twixes and Golden Wonder crisps. She was also smoking. She didn't drink, following a three-day hangover as a teenager that put her off alcohol pretty much permanently. "I put on three stone," she says. "I went to an osteopath and he told me to lose weight." This was the beginning of a story that, in many ways, should have been quietly unremarkable. For what Caplin does, and the path she has taken to get where she is, is no different from that of any other personal trainer. She started out working at health clubs, and that's it, really. The only other career blip, prior to the Foster scandal, came after she and her mother set up a health and fitness company, Holistix, in the Eighties. They took their eye off the business and put it in someone else's hands. "I went bust. I had nothing. I ended up sleeping on my mother's floor. It was the nearest I got to being in a depressive state. I couldn't understand how it had gone so wrong." But she got up and started again, working out of the posh gym Holmes Place, where she trained Cherie Blair, among others. The customers liked her and became her clients; many of them still are. "I call them my foot soldiers," she says. "When the whole mess blew up, they stayed strong and loyal. Many of them wanted to go to the press and say, 'You've got her all wrong,' but I didn't want them to have to do that." Among her foot soldiers are the theatre producer Bill Kenwright and his partner, the actress Jenny Seagrove. "Bill helped me set up this place," she says. He credits her with helping him shape up, lose weight and get his energy back. She didn't think she'd get here, really. "I'd had such bad press," she says. "It absolutely rocked me. It has taken me years to get back on my feet." She was pregnant by Foster but lost the baby, and then the couple split up, anyway. "I have put him in a drawer marked dreadful exes and that's where he stays," she says. "Getting tangled up with him was not one of my better ideas." She says things might have gone differently for her if she'd had a support network. "If I'd been married at the time and felt more secure, maybe I would've fought more against the negative publicity, but I did feel pretty much alone." She thinks she may well not get married now. "I'd love to get married if the right person came along, but that hasn't happened yet. In fact, I just wouldn't have been able to make a relationship work over the past few years, because I threw myself into my dream of opening a place like this." She knows she won't have children. "I have a lovely niece and wonderful godchildren. I'm so busy here. I do everything, even the laundry." This is true. While I am there she is busy picking up towels and scrubbing the floor. A journalist who had done classes with Caplin before all the Blair stuff broke once pointed out that everyone wanted to be praised by her. She went on to suggest that maybe that was why Cherie Blair had such an attachment to Caplin, that her slightly headmistressy quality was very attractive to the convent-educated Cherie. "I don't think that's true," says Caplin looking surprised. And yet she did do everything for Cherie, even packing her suitcase for her and accompanying her on holiday. Then again, why not? If I had the time and money, I'd be in LifeSmart every day. "I am a shortcut for people with busy lives. I help them unwind, regroup, de-stress," she says. "I have no magical powers. I didn't want the publicity and I thought it would all die down, but it didn't. I can't fight the system, though. I stayed true to myself but I was bullied. I was a cornered mouse who didn't want to be a victim. Now I am back just doing what I am trained to do. That's all."   Telegraph - Lucy Cavendish</blockquote></p></div>
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